Is there space for dyslexia in high‐attainment educational environments? Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study into attainment grouping in English primary schools

Abstract Attainment grouping is an important policy issue and is increasingly practiced in UK primary schools, with researchers presenting contrasting stances on the impact to pupils' attainment and academic self‐concept. This original research statistically analyses the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) data ( N = 3510) and explores: (i) whether dyslexic pupils are underrepresented in English and Maths high attainment groups in English primary schools, both before and after controlling statistically for test scores at age 7 alongside sex and social class background, and (ii) whether teachers underestimate the ‘ability’ of dyslexic pupils relative to their test scores in ways that inform ‘ability group’ allocation. Findings show that dyslexic pupils are underrepresented in high attainment groups for English and Maths (age 7 and 11) and teachers' perceptions of pupils' ability impact allocation over and above the impact of test scores. This research contributes to the discussion about the educational spaces dyslexic pupils occupy in an ‘inclusive’ education system and has significant policy implications for inclusive education practice as it illustrates dyslexic pupils' stark absence from high attainment educational spaces.